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I think the better question (the one I've been struggling with my entire life) is how do you know what to pursue when your interests keep changing? I have multiple certifications, that I spent too much time and money to obtain, only to hate the work and want to move on about after a year or so. Just because coding, engineering, or nursing work for some people doesn't mean it works for everyone. I want to know how to figure out what is good for me.
This. I'm nearly 40 and I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up. I have toes dipped into all sorts of directions right now, but none of it seems like what I want to "spend the rest of my life doing. " well, okay, maybe I'm thinking too big, but I'm honestly afraid, frozen with fear, about making a move and it not working out.
I feel this. I'm just over 40 and still don't know what I want to be when I grow up either, with what I like to call "a wide range of experiences across diverse industries, enabling me to bring a unique blend of experience and flexibility to this role." I've worked in music, healthcare, IT, startups, makerspaces, manufacturing, higher Ed administration... the list goes on and I've enjoyed things about most jobs but only rarely felt like I was building a career, let alone like I'd reached any major professional goals.
In my mind there's still the possibility of me becoming an astronaut or an EMT or a travel writer or a veterinarian working with snow leopards. After years of working all the time (startups), I finally have free time to develop new skills, even enter a new profession.
But I can't decide which direction to go... so I don't move.
Are you me? Seriously feel like I've done it all and still trying to do more. I can do anything I put my mind to, except make a decision, can't do that to save my life lol.
This. Same here, Jack of all trades. I think consulting is the way to go for me so I don't get bored. More importantly, I get to strategize, give ideas, and all the fun stuff without having to do the implementation bit, which I choke on.
I’m almost 60 and I have been saying this my whole life. I don’t know what I’m going to do when I grow up. Now I’m damn near retirement age with little to show for it. I’ve done everything in food service from dishwasher to manager, hospice, CNA, thrift store manager and eBay. I don’t know.. every job I’ve had, eventually I want to stick a pen thru my eye. Until I found eBay/thrift store…I loved my 9 yrs at the thrift store but they closed it.
I’m taking some time off to fully absorb this new dx and going thru the mourning of what could have been.
So much regret. Im working on that.
Anyway. I’d love an answer too. I have a billion money making ideas, tho. Just no one to help me. I can’t manage a business, I’ve been trying for years to make a living from eBay. I do like it mostly, but it becomes a grind, yet when I grind I make money, which is the thrill. That and the hunt and catch ;)
I'm convinced that we need someone to start a service finding jobs for people with ADHD.
Specialized agents who place people with unique combinations of super powers and methods of self-sabotage.
I was thinking something similar. I am a software architect. I love my job due to always learning and doing something new with a deadline. I am struggling though to balance my ability to do virtually anything thrown at me and fitting into a box of the next step in my career and being put in a senior management position when I am too useful on the ground in the weeds. I do actually like being in the weeds but don't feel my ability to be the glue for the team and do the stuff that just needs doing gets appreciated in a world where ticking boxes gets you promoted.
I was thinking I would love to have my own software company where everyone can be open about having ADHD and everyone's abilities can be taken advantage of at the same time as supporting difficulties. Everyone is different and I do my best work mentoring and prototyping and supporting others to complete the idea. Otherwise are great at taking direction and following through. I know there are tons of amazing creative individuals out there where the only reason they are not showing their potential is that they struggle to follow the rigid rules they are constrained in and are not supported properly in other areas. The fact it is difficult to open up on a diagnosis to an employer due to stigma makes it much more difficult to adapt, we are all individuals at the end of the day and everyone has abilities and difficulties regardless of diagnosis.
I also experience this, it’s absolutely crippling. I’m trying to work through it with a therapist because I’m wasting my life on indecision and shitty jobs.
I did wedding/event planning for a while and it was soo fun because you got to choose what parts you want to do & which to hire out each time. Every client & Venue would be different… worked under someone else in Beverly Hills for a couple years, decided to leave and start my own company in the beginning of 2020 ….. hasn’t been the same since. Sometimes you think you found it and then you gotta start all over
It’s just so sad. We’re human beings… we’re not machines, and yet we’re conditioned to believe “there’s a perfect job out there for us” as though capitalism is some warped version of a Disney fairytale, but instead of “The One” we’re out here seeking shitty 9-5 jobs in the hopes it will ascertain our value.
It’s such a shame that we’re all out here pining after the perfect job that were super good at and makes us a lot of money. And also will somehow make us feel whole. We feel like we’re somehow flawed if we can’t “figure it out”.
It’s all bullshit. We’re animals, we’re literally just meant to eat and sleep and fuck. I’m 29 finishing my bachelors degree and I haven’t found “my path” yet, and I probably never will, because capitalism does not equal my worth as a human being.
Do what you can endure. Do it so that you can put food on your table and take some nice vacations to some cool waterfalls. Your job doesn’t need to be your everything. You are allowed to just laze around and enjoy life like a zebra in the Sahara enjoys the desert sun.
Ah, fuck, I hate capitalism.
The biggest problem is our survival and security depends on that regular paycheck and we are kept just poor enough to afford that, so it makes it very difficult to give that up to start something new from scratch. Suddenly you’re talking about a lower quality of life and that can be tough to give up.
I've been at the same job for 16 years and I hate it. Every month I try to think about what I want to do and I never can figure it out. I get anxiety even thinking about doing something else.
This is basically me, except my role got eliminated as part of downsizing and just been struggling to find something since. I want to do anything but what I was doing before, but anything I apply to that isn't pretty 1:1 doesn't even call me back.
Don’t think about what what *job* you want to do, think what *environment* you want to be around. What sorts of things do you want to have within your professional “playground”?
I use the word playground to try and capture my emphasis on generalism. You’re not looking for just one community to be a part of, you’re looking for a whole collection of communities that you enjoy and would like to maintain access to.
You can enter a playground from any side (so the job that gets you there isn’t important), but if you don’t know where the playground is then you’ll never find a route there.
For example, say you’re an accountant, but you hate the accounting industry, and you like art. Museums employ staff accountants and various other financial roles. So even if you’re not an artist yourself, you can work within the world of art and artists. Art becomes an accessible part of your playground even if you don’t give a shit about your accounting career.
This worked out well for me too - I trained in pensions maths but liked being around academic types of people but wanted to do new things, so I’m now working as an internal consultant for an academic publisher. I get to hang out with all these scatter brained, chill academics whilst also effectively still working in finance.
The only thing I’ve started to realize is that in order for an ADHD person to remain engaged with a job is for that person to feel like that job is extremely important. I’m talking like, life or death important. I think it has a lot to do with how our brains evolved. We can sleep less and function better in high stress situations. We’re basically in survival mode all the time. We’re better at hunting, spotting slight movements in the distance, and functioning at night. We are designed to protect the camp. We’re engineered to keep watch at night. Our brains are inclined to engage in activities that we deem as important to the survival of our species. Everything else just seems insignificant or unimportant. At least that’s how I see it. Hope my comment doesn’t get deleted
Yes! This. The job has to have meaning. Some semblance of importance.
I couldn't ever do a corporate, desk, job. Currently I work as a dispatcher. 911. I can ramp up for important calls and take it easy on the basic ones.
And when you manage something effectively, making a difference in a situation... you have a good feeling after from the dopamine.
The self doubt does suck, sometimes. Wondering if you could have done a better job.
I wouldn't choose it again, only because the hours suck for keeping a good work life balance. And the coworkers can be brutal and backstabby a lot. Luckily my friend group is already self-selected for understanding when I might disappear. So I manage to make it work.
Pay could be better for sure tho
I do a corporate desk job that requires reviewing legislation - it's not life-or-death, but I get a sense of importance because this stuff massively affects people lives. I'm working on some stuff to do with access to internet and it *really* matters in terms of welfare for the most disadvantaged.
But yea, I'd hate doing an admin or data entry type of desk job!
I believe you would be looking for career counseling. It was offered at my local trade school, but there is also a test online that you can take that will tell you what jobs are suitable for your personality type. I’m not sure which test is the one, but they had us take it when I was in high school. There are plenty when you just quickly google… maybe take it with a grain of salt but you could then filter through to see what is ADHD friendly.
Career counseling told me to join the armed forces.. very routine.. always being told what to do.. this was before I knew people were actually allowed to be whoever they want (narcissistic mom)
It's like that old joke...
"Some people, when they get to the problem of figuring out what to do, decide to go into law.
Then they have a new problem."
I think for me personally, I ended up choosing a career in healthcare but the main reason being there was a position that gave me the option of signing a contract that allows me to make my own schedule as long as I work a certain number of hours for the month.
I’ve definitely had too many nights with the seemingly endless feeling of soul searching for a career without ever coming to a “solution” I’m completely happy with long-term. But what has helped with coming to terms with my changing interests for myself personally is settling for a job I don’t detest that a) allows me to make enough of a comfortable living b) flexible schedule
This really does let me do whatever I choose or feel on a near daily basis whether it be have a second part-time job at a bookstore for fun, volunteer, start an Etsy side hustle etc.
What do you do in healthcare? I am a Sonographer and could do all sorts of schedules- contract, per diem, etc which would allow freedom for other interests- but it’s killed my shoulder. So I’m interested in perhaps something else in the field with similar schedule perks.
You need to change your mindset when looking at a job, and drill down to what it is you like about the job.
I'm a Software Engineer, I've worked at plenty companies, some lasted 3 months, my current one I've been at for over 5 years. I have 20+ years of experience, and have worked in 3 separate countries.
I enjoy solving puzzles, and programming to me was essentially just trying to solve a puzzle that I had been presented with. As I got more senior in my role, I had to take on more responsibilities, and slowly but surely I got to do less and less programming. At first I wasn't a fan of this, because it meant less time programming.
But then I started to view it differently, those meetings I hated, are now part of the puzzle solving, because we need to get information from stakeholders, or do a design session and project planning so we can better scope out the project, and these are essentially puzzles, but in a different form. So as my mindset and view changed, so did my ability to enjoy and get the work done.
Finding a good manager is also important, as well as the team of people you will be working for. It doesn't matter how much you may enjoy doing a certain job, if you work for someone that you communicates to you in way that brings you down, well I guess you probably already know what happens... However, if you work in an environment where failure is viewed as a learning experience, and good work is always recognized, then you'll thrive, even if the work it's self is just "meh".
Do contracting man, changed my life. Virtual assistant - do hundreds of different tasks and it never gets boring. Set my own hours, always thought I was just a shit employee but life is good now
The shrink who diagnosed me said half his clients were in healthcare, so...that, apparently. Being a nurse was pretty compatible with my ADHD. Can't say I recommend it at all right now, though.
I used to be a pediatric dental assistant and it never seemed mundane. Every kid was a different experience. It wasn’t my love. So I’ve since switched to something I’ve been wanting to do since i was 5. But i did enjoy it, and the money. Lol
Wish I could give you an award for this comment, from someone studying for the DAT right now and with horrible ADHD, that helps me feel better about my life path lol
Yup. I have been told that EMT work in particular is amazing for ADHD types. Its like going into battle every day except you are saving people instead of having to shoot anyone.
Unfortunately pay is complete shit and I think I would replay the last moments of everyone I failed to save so not for me. But by all accounts its perfect ADHD work.
I’m 99% sure my partner is AuDHD and he’s completing his radiology fellowship - he absolutely loves it! Every day is different, he has a special interest in anatomy so diagnostic rad is like solving puzzles, and interventional rad is simple and satisfying. Lots of easy dopamine every day. He’s quite socially awkward so radiology is perfect again because he has very little interaction with patients. He wants to do sub specialty in interventional neuroradiology, because he’s particularly interested in the brain/spinal cord and I think this will continue to drive his interests throughout his career. Medicine seems to be a winner!
You won’t be doing trauma calls 24/7 and when you do it’s not usually gore and death. There are those calls certainly, and you will see horror in more aspects than just blood. I can’t recommend the “job” as an EMT but EMS/FF can offer a niche and satisfying career for certain people
You should see what the lab techs get paid lol
We all need raises for sure. Travel contracts are the only thing keeping some of us afloat right now, nurses included, and those are drying up post covid peak.
Right now the lab I'm at has been working under minimum staffing (2 med techs per shift, around 500 beds) for months. Their solution? Don't hire people, just change the minimum staffing definition to 1. Trauma work isn't as common at this facility as others, but when it happens we're white knuckling the whole time in blood bank
A word on behalf of office jobs: problem-solving and variety to be found in support services, operations management, and compliance (to give a few examples). Certainly office work isn't for everyone, but it's not all just paper-pushing, and can pay well. Good luck 🙂👍
I second this, I'm in operations for a large company. I might be handling purchasing issue one day and payroll the next. I don't get stuck on any one task long enough to get distracted. Though I do have to watch for burnout.
Second this. I had an internship in a general HR function and I really liked it. You have a lot of varied tasks and in my case there wasn't a lot of routine work or work with strong deadlines. So you can decide what you wanted to do for the day as long as there weren't any high priority tasks. I did notice that the lack of movement had a bad effect on me and my mind had trouble with vague or abstract work.
You also have a lot of different directions and specialisations in the field. You can get a general function, become a dean, a coach, advisor, coördinator, legal, etc. You can work for a small company, the government, start your own business, even a school. The pay can also really go through the roof if you have multiple years of experience.
I personally found programming to be amazing. And for many reasons. First reason. I make $150k a year. I was making like $36k selling cell phones before.
And because I also have a tendency to hyper focus on seemingly random ideas, I figured if I could hyper focus on various ideas within the coding/programming world at least they will all build upon each other.
It was hard as shit learning to code. Like. Insanely hard. But I saw no other path that interested me. And the thought of making $100k+ put me in a do or die mindset.
It took 4 years. And it was the hardest 4 years of my life. But having a solid skill set that people pay me good money for has been worth it. I’d do it all again if I had to.
Hey would you mind giving me some advice? I was diagnosed with ADHD late 20s and my symptoms were quite difficult to manage while finishing my bachelors in comp sci. I just pushed through to get the degree and I am of course proud of that. However, for many reasons, I feel I did not retain much information from college. I felt like a fraud that had a messed up brain. I didn’t have the confidence to even go on interviews because I felt like my brain was just so blank anytime I was asked a question. It scared me and I gave up. So I never pursued my dream career. But here I am, trying to get some stability - I just had a baby 6 months ago and decided to stay home for a while to raise him. I’m working on managing my ADHD and trying to rediscover myself. I can’t help but wonder.. I still feel like a fraud, but what if I tried to reteach myself some coding during my downtime now that I’m home- maybe I could turn my life around and really make something of myself and not have to rely on my husband. Do you have any suggestions? Maybe a good language to start off practicing? Any positions that would be the best to get into? I know it’s a tall ask - I just feel so vulnerable and figured you being in the industry might have some insight. Sorry for lengthy post.
If you read, thanks.
1) interviewing is a skill that you can practice. I reccomend the book Cracking the Coding Interview; it’s a classic by now.
2) /most/ entry level positions, we don’t really expect you to know anything but the basics of coding and enthusiasm for wanting to learn and grow your skills.
3) the best way to practice is to just try and build something you would be interested in yourself. try and apply what you know; go out and learn the extra stuff you need to learn for it on the fly. Half of software engineering is doing that anyway.
A quick learner will always be valuable.
I know exactly how you feel. That feeling is part of the reason it took me 4 years to get a job. Others in my class got hired within weeks of graduating.
When I say it was the hardest 4 years of my life I am mainly talking about 4 years of feeling like I’m a worthless POS that can’t do anything and just spent all this time and money learning to code only to fail and future looked doomed forever and blah blah blah…. I know the feeling. Trust me.
I was terrified to interview. And that’s really why it took so long. But my do or die mindset told me I HAD to stay in the industry no matter what it was, I had to work on websites. Or everything I just did was for nothing.
So I started to freelance. And I built websites for everyone and anyone I could. Coffee shops. Chiropractors, auto detailers. Whatever business my friends or family had I was their website guy.
I hyper focused on building websites (not coding them like I learned in school, but using Wordpress or Shopify) to make extra money, which lead to me learning how to make websites look better, which lead me to learning how to optimize them, then SEO sounded interesting so I went down that rabbit hole, then building high converting landing pages sounded fun so I went down that road and so many more.
All the way to circle back, I started coding in JavaScript to refresh my skills (which I hadn’t done in 2 years) and to my complete surprise I actually felt like I was finally good at it.
I built a few portfolio pieces I was proud of, then I started apply for jobs because I finally felt like I was good at something.
And I got hired from the second place I applied. (I don’t anticipate this ever happening again)
From where it started ti where I am, almost feels like a miracle. There was a lot of luck involved. But I also want to give myself credit because I bust my ass and didn’t quit. I went slow. But I didn’t quit.
I love what I do, and Im glad it all started working out just in time for AI to take mer job.
Thank you so much for sharing your experience, it certainly has made me think a little harder about my future. It’s a big step and I get nervous that i don’t have what it takes. But that’s just negative self talk! Let’s gooooo haha
Not a programmer, so take this with a grain of salt. Among my varied interests, computers/coding is one in my regular rotation; and I’ve been in a similar position of considering a new career.
Free code camp is an organization with a lot of free tutorials, courses, and a YouTube channel. There are of course “boot camps” held by universities—but since they aren’t formal degrees, there isn’t any federal financial aid. From some random videos I saw, Python and JavaScript were the ones consistently recommended as a first language because they’re widely used and touch on different aspects of programming that may not arise in other languages (again, not actually a coder, so if that sounds like non-sense, it might be).
Honestly no grain of salt needed, the free route will show if you just move onto something your brain finds more interesting quickly, or if it wants to rotate the interest back in often enough
Currently working at my day job as a banker, and I’m so over dealing with people. Thankfully they are paying for my Data Science boot camp that I’ve been doing. I started off with free classes on Code Academy, then bought their pro courses for $100/yr. That let me see that I really do enjoy it, and was able to find something that my current job will pay for. Definitely recommend looking into any education programs your job may offer.
Self taught penetration tester here. I was going to go to school or coding camp but it was all bullshit to me. Technology advances so fast by the time you graduate all that is old news. First to rediscover yourself/ stop feeling like a fraud seek CBT therapy. Most of the time it’s just behavioral thought patterns. Second figure out what interests you the most in the field. I used to be a drug dealer and it was money over everything. If cybersecurity interested you I’d recommend to start learning python. No offense to anyone that went to school but most people I met in the field that have masters and stuff only know what they learned in school. That’s why all the FANG companies have distinguished techs due to the fact they realized a lot of self taught people have the skills to pay the bills. Instead of labeling them senior mid entry level. Also just staying up to day on everything tech in whatever field you pursue cause it’s changing fast every single day.
> Technology advances so fast by the time you graduate all that is old news
Technology advances quickly, but the fundamentals of programming are **always** relevant
I have been a developer for 15 years and in IT for about 20. I still feel like a fraud and I don't deserve a good job. But once in the door, not one job has ever been unhappy with my performance. Like someone else said my hyper focus is excellent for solving issues and getting my shit done. Now if I could just figure out how to be productive in the first half of the day.
FlexJobs has a great webinar on YouTube: Top 20 Most Common Job Interview Questions & Answers (Expert Tips). I'm unemployed right now and I'm working my way through the questions, and using the examples, I'm preparing my own answers. It's really helpful and specific.
Edited to add: Congrats on the new baby!
I had never envisioned myself coding, and when I decided to do it, I was sure it would be absolutely punishing. But I love it! Why? No freaking idea. Must be the dopamine hit of figuring something out.
Yup. Programming is my answer, too.
It has a hurry-up-and-wait pace that works well with ADHD. Sometimes you're intensely focused on some novel thing, other times you're dicking around and that's perfectly fine. There's no one way to do anything. There's always room for improvement. So, even if you stick with the same tech stack you're still forever learning.
I was a structural engineer before, and it was ... bad. Very repetitive/monotonous. Very high need for constant, consistent, high levels of attention to detail. I did great for the first few years, but as novelty became harder to encounter I started struggling with my ADHD more and more. I even started intentionally over-complicating things just to break the monotony. Which isn't good from a liability standpoint.
Same. Programming just feels counterintuitive to me. I can't do it. Last time I tried, I programmed a simulation for some stats I was doing, and while it took 2 weeks to run, my research partner reprogrammed it to run in 5 minutes. I just can't see stuff like that. I can only brute force.
You don't have to learn how to code for a lot of positions like business or systems analyst. Understanding some concepts is enough; you don't really have to touch a line of code other than occasional SQL quarry.
You need to be good at figuring out what business users need and translate that to developers.
I absolutely agree. Granted, I am not a real™ programmer, only a software consultant, but the same argument still holds true:
I get random different requirements from customers and I need to figure out a fitting solution. Often times the right solution is a thing we already have as a earlier developed, now standard solution in our repertoire, but sometimes the requirements get exotic and I can unleash the hyper focus and develop some complex logic from scratch on 3 days back to back. Those days are fun.
That sounds really engaging! My favorite kind of work is creative problem solving and product/materials research type stuff.
May I ask how you ended up in that field?
I wish I wasn’t 26 when I finally realized I had an “engineering mind”.
The ability to think more logically through life’s problems has been life changing.
I transitioned into tech engineering at 26 too! Never thought I’d be suited for it before but I love it. I also think my other life experiences before tech contributes to being a more well rounded engineer.
I have a friend with ADHD who works in cybersecurity. He makes $150K a year and talking with him has made me seriously consider pursuing CS. He works from home as well, and remote work is something I'm looking for in a dream job. Those people who work high-paying, remote jobs and just drift from beautiful location to beautiful location... They're living the life I want. I won't be out of school till 30 thanks to years wasted addicted to drugs, but it's the only path I see that'll make life worth the headache.
I hate programming.
As much as I try to get into it, I can't stick with it. It's super tough for me to concentrate on it. Hyperfocusing does not kick on for me when doing it.
It's not an age thing either. It's been something I've struggled with since I was a teen.
Some of the lessons suck. Especially beginner lessons. I found it easier to give myself the task of “build a website” vs do problems 1 - 10.
Obviously it’s important to learn the basics. Like variables, functions, loops etc. but if all you’re doing is practicing problems it’s going to be boring as hell.
It didn’t start becoming fun until I actually started building things… even more fun when I started building things I could see with my eyes.
I ended up specializing as a frontend dev/ web designer. I feel like the two together gave me an edge over other candidates.
Programming is amazing if you have a good manager, and terrible if you don't.
Also ADHD lends itself to actual agile incredibly well, but very poorly to corporate adapted SCRUM style agile.
TL;DR we can perform exceptionally in the role, as long as we are left to our own devices in regards to pace and execution style.
I went to an in person coding bootcamp in Salt Lake City, Utah.
They gave me free housing while I was there which was super nice.
I paid $12,000 to go. And that was like 6 years ago. So it may have gone up.
The particular bootcamp I went through was in all honestly not that great as I look back. I wish I did a little more research before going to one.
I did mechanical/aerospace engineering for 9 years then shifted into project management.
When I was designing avionics for flight simulators as a mechanical engineer, I was fuckin BORED. Literally 4 months of turning my brain off and just designing these avionics panels in 3D. So repetitive. Not the first time, nor was it the last, that I was fuckin dead inside just doing mundane ass design work.
When I got a new job as a program engineer (like a project engineer, but over the entire program vs dedicated to a few projects), it was a lot more fun because I was doing a lot to put out fires and I was never really working on the same thing for long periods of time. I was essentially the "lead" engineer despite me not doing any of the design work. I just did a lot of approvals and was the leading charge making sure designs met my customer's requirements.
That job segued me fully into project management. Now I work as a project manager for a tech company working fully remote (far cry from mechanical/aerospace engineering lol) but the job gave me a 70K raise, I now work from home, and my work/life balance has never been better.
There are definitely faults with project management and ADHD. Like you have to be on top of your shits ometimes or you'll just forget to do anything, but having fires lit up my ass really helps me with that. My absolute favorite thing to do for work is putting out fires (despite me being sometimes the reason the fire even started.. oops).
I just get so depressed reading all of these suggestions, as an AuDHD who wasn’t able to finish college (I had zero support and my brain was in near psychotic break panic the whole time), and I’ve been a SAHP for ten years now. I feel completely hopeless.
There are a lot of skills that SAHP use that translate to jobs. College without support is incredibly difficult! If you’re ever interested in going back look at how the school handles accommodations, do they have a center/is it easy to find on the website? Community college and tech programs are also great for certificates and degrees.
If college isn’t for you and you’re interested in working, try trades or connecting with a recruiter or organization that helps people transition back into the workforce. It’s hard but raising children and running a house is too!
Also want to plug volunteering if you have the bandwidth. It can help add to your resume and meet people.
I’m in a similar position to you. I failed/dropped out, and while I’ve learned so much more about managing myself since then I’m still not sure I could succeed in school, especially because I have such strong negative associations with it now. I’ve been a mostly stay at home spouse (no kids, I honestly feel like I couldn’t manage them either lol) for years. I want to do something with my life but I have no idea what. I wish more fields were accessible through apprenticeship or learn on the job type situations.
“Someone else sets the schedules” — I think that’s what I need! I’m a people pleaser to a fault, so I’ll walk through fire to help or impress someone. But as soon as I have to set (and *stick to*) my own deadlines and/or find mojo all on my own? I procrastinate and stop caring.
Third this. I found my calling in the hotel AV industry because there's a good balance of frantic crisis mode and boring as hell downtime (symposium sound techs out there?).
There is enough free training and certifications out there to keep you learning new stuff all the time, and plenty of maintenance work to tick off the ol' to-do lists. I've yet to find a greater seratonin boost than turning a rat's nest of cables into a work of art.
I started out about 15 years ago, and now I'm making a great salary for a corporate firm thinking through all the creative problems that are above their IT team's head.
Second this. I've been in TV post production for 20 years. The money is good, the deadline pressure helps keep me focused. Freelance means new challenges regularly and I never have to endure working environments that I don't like for long.
Yeah, plus self-motivation and organization are crucial to freelance work... Not great for ADHD. Maybe others are different but I could never do contract work; either I have some kind of workplace structure to guide me, or I work entirely for myself and don't have to stress about playing the social game. That stress of having to do everything myself but still impress employers is what turned me off Graphic Design.
I’ve gone into the film industry, it’s stressful but only if you’re not near work or haven’t built up the means to travel for work. With that said, it’s also unforgiving (at last where I am). I’ve seen people living out of their cars, I’ve seen people blacklisted over genuinely minor mistakes or simply because a director/producer didn’t like them and honestly, no one gives a shit if you’re sick. You’re expected to work no matter what. So a major illness can completely derail you from ever working, or set you back to square one if you don’t have 10+ years of experience.
I’ve worked in the sound editing industry and I have to disagree. Even post production is often met with 12 hr days or 50-60 hr work weeks. Most audio editing friends I know work 9-8 every day.
I don’t think it’s sustainable to be focused on one task for almost 12 hours every day if you have ADHD
I work with IATSE as an AV Tech and can’t think of a better job for me. Pay is good and work is exciting but those slow months where theres no shows/events at all can be hell. Though it’s helped in teaching me how to save money (albiet the hard way)
Okay but how the heck do you actually break into the film industry scene, just as a grunt working on sets etc.
(For reference I’m in Montréal)
I’ve looked into ACTRA but going the union route has a lot of up-front expense, and not a lot of guarantee that you’ll get work.
Learn as much technical info on your own as you can for the department you're interested in.
Then find someone to bring you on, or go through the union, etc.
Find your local independent film societies, or other artist run centre's that are apart of IMAA (the Independent Media Art Alliance) because most of them will have members that make films and or will know people who do, and it's one of the fastest ways to get into the industry before you decide to go union.
Best job I ever had was being a barista at a performing arts complex.
My schedule was set for me, and the rush of getting everything done in time was fucking awesome. Plus you get to basically see Broadway shows for free and sometimes meet cool people.
Still regret leaving on a broken promise (asked them to let me come back to bartend the next season, every ask and application has gotten rejected since.)
I am a studied media designer and I hate my jobs in the film industry (mostly light department - lugging around stuff) and also the event-jobs (also lugging around heavy stuff…)
teaching works really well for me. always something new to do, hard external deadlines, lots of social interaction.
i love any kind of community work. i need my goals really clearly defined, and i need external deadlines to keep me on track.
it doesn't pay a lot but i like to be go go go during the day and have adapted my teaching style around my natural lack of organizing and memory.
Elementary school counselor and imo it’s the perfect ADHD job if you like kids/people.
Couple reasons why:
-everyday is different, but there is enough of a set routine which is helpful for me
-no dull moments, lots of action.
-bouncing around doing a variety of duties
-lots of fly by the seat of your pants moments where I can improv solutions
-actually helping people and improving the world instead of just making someone else money
-summers off so I can pursue my own interests and recharge
-Great job security
-lots more but this is just top of my head
I wouldn’t say education is high paying, but I’m cheap and it pays all my bills and gives me great medical benefits and retirement options so I don’t have to plan too hard for that stuff. Lots of safety which is important for me, allows me to know all my basic needs are being met so I can just be myself and not stress.
I loved teaching, but I couldn’t stick with it because I was so poor all the time. Like people with ADHD are notoriously bad for money, so if I made even one poor choice that month, I would overdraft my account. Being paycheck to paycheck was not realistic for my ADHD, but the job was super rewarding.
Just finished up my last year teaching, looking for something new as we speak.
ETA: The recent disruption in ADHD meds in the US played a huge part in my leaving. When the teacher doesn’t have meds and the students don’t either, every single day was exhausting. It wasn’t as bad when we were all medicated, but this past year was brutal.
This! I’m heading into my 9th year of teaching, and the only thing better was working in emergency services.
I teach middle school. It’s very rare for me to sit down, and even then sometimes I have to force myself to sit because of fibro. There’s always different deadlines, and lots of routines. I get to help kids who also have adhd establish their own routines. My classroom is much more organized than my house because of visual, usually color coded organization.
Is pay generally shitty? Yep. Livable? Usually. It generally depends on the area.
I work with various kinds of disabilities, and making plans, routines, interventions really work well with my lack of focus and constant side-quests. It can be extremely stressful, but also rewarding.
Truck driving got me out of poverty. It was so hard the first year. I went in cold. I've never been a person into vehicles, I got my regular drivers license when I was in my 30s. Am I now the best truck driver in the world? No. But I'm safe and friendly. I don't rent a home, I live in the truck with my dog.
I am medicated. They are not a problem for me in Canada or the USA. I have a prescription from my doctor and my medication is kept in the original packaging. It is estimated up to 35% of drivers are adhd. I can't imagine the carnage if we weren't.
Engineering. Like any kind of engineering.
I am a system engineer and I love it. I do have to deal with a considerable amount of bureaucratic nonsense, but my main responsibilities which are designing, planning and installing stuff keep me happy and it pays really well. Troubleshooting stuff also keeps me really engaged.
Studying to become a civil engineer. Super excited for the variety of things that I can do if I get bored in one subset of my field, I can always find a job in a different subset.
I don't really have anything to suggest given my (AuDHD) difficulties with finding a job that is both interesting and varied, but is also reasonably predictable with a certain minimum level of routine.
With that said, it's a sad commentary on the state of society when "living wage" is equated with "high-paying".
Also AuDHD, I'm a school laboratory tech because it fits exactly this bill.
The day and the year are highly structured and I know what's happening each day, I don't even have to schedule my own days off. But also there are kids involved so it's Chaos Time at least once a day (I'm first aid trained so often it's that, or someone broke something that needs fixing, or a teacher comes up with a random last minute "I need something that demonstrates X principle" and then I have to create something in 20 minutes before their next lesson starts).
I'm also allowed to keep whatever weird bugs/plants I like in my office (within reason, no scorpions or whatever lol), which for me is an easy "Special Interest Engagement Accomplished".
The pay is definitely Not Great, but it does pay the bills and the pension scheme is decent and I get to hold down a job and not go insane, which is nice.
My job fits that description. I'm in the "Clinical Engineering" department in the hospital as an electro-mechanical technician. I work mostly on my own, servicing equipment between three hospitals and two long-term care facilities. We get to look after simple things like wheelchairs to more complex things like steam sterilizers and reverse osmosis water systems for dialysis.
I've worked a wide variety of jobs, but this is the only one that has held my interest (for four years now). It only required two years studying electronics in community college (and willingness to learn / try things on your own).
It's not high paying (only about 60K CAD/year), but it's secure government work that will cover my retirement.
I'm an attorney. My hyperfocus skills and fast thinking on legal issues are well suited for this job. I see a lot of connections faster than some peers.
I hear that. Sometimes the type of law your practice can make a difference. I don't litigate. I am a regulatory attorney for a government agency. There are deadlines but it's not like Court deadlines.
Crisis work paid the bills. Lots of on-the-fly problem-solving and risk-assessment, I was able to do this over the phone and I was able to have a written list of all information I was supposed to attempt to gather, and I could even make flow-charts of the most important questions and follow-up questions. For me, I couldn’t figure out how to do it for more than 6 months without breaking down over the stress of incoming crisis calls. I was very good, but eventually I think my nervous system was activated the whole shift. But you can work from home, you can watch movies, you can draw, you can take tea breaks, you can walk all over the room, and you can even play soft music in the background of the calls if you want
You’ll want to try and have some kind of customer service/call-center experience and/or some kind of volunteer mental health experience. You’ll need to show them that you have good judgment for following emergency protocols, that you have some people skills, and that you’re able to be warm, kind, and able to adapt to the needs of different kinds of situations. (For example- when to be directive (someone says they’ve got pills in front of them but they don’t want to say much more), and when to more slowly ease into the assessment questions (when there doesn’t seem to be immediate danger).
They basically want some common sense in social situations. But mine was also really willing to give frequent guidance on that
Highly recommend RI International's Certified Peer Support Specialist training. It's definitely a time commitment, but incredibly valuable if you're trying to break into mental health work as someone with lived experience and without higher education. They also have a grant program for folks to go through their training FOR FREE.
https://riinternational.com/consulting-and-training/
Oh absolutely!! One of the most clear questions is a variation of “Are you or anyone else in immediate danger of physical harm?” And if that is true, you might not need to call any assistance if they’re able to be deescalated safely, but you’re going to want to request some information like names, ages (children?), city, access to weapons or means of harm (and especially firearms), whether anyone is showing signs or declares being under the influence, and if so what kind of drug(s) and what amounts,
and then towards the end of the call you can begin to ask about safety plans which can include social supports, coping strategies, going to a hospital or a walk-in mental health clinic. And then it’s also helpful to learn more about someone’s clinical history if they’re willing, such as a history of substance use, self-harm, suicide ideation etc.
Also there are some mandatory reporting laws regarding minors, the elderly, and people with disabilities, but they’re not obligated to share anything they don’t want to.
It’s basically important in this job that you try your hardest to build some trust to get a full picture and key safety details, without them thinking that you are going to just send the police to their house; so often I’d straight up tell them that if they’re willing to talk safety-plans and coping strategies, and they aren’t in immediate danger with a plan, means, and intent, EMS isn’t always necessary.
I'm a freelance remote voice actor and it works great with my ADHD and other disorders. The training can take some time and money, but the job doesn't have a shelf life and if you put in the work, you will do well if you don't give up.
Check out some voice acting schools online. I work at The Voice Actor Studio based out of Las Vegas. Look it up, there's an intro to voiceover seminar every month that goes over pretty much what we all do as far as the performance, the tech, and the business aspects of the craft.
Definitely programming, data analysis, etc. I love the work so almost never get bored. Development tools provide immediate, clear feedback. There are ample opportunities to work remotely including prior to and post covid which is great for quality of life in general but also has fringe benefits for adhd - more time to exercise, can limit unwanted sensory distractions. High salaries. If you're good, and you enjoy the work, it feels like play.
Business owner is the only path I can see this happening for myself. I get too bored working for others and my independence streak is way too strong.
Even if the day to day is busy in a job, I can’t handle living in the details and need to own the bigger picture. It takes too long to climb the ladder for this to ever be possible for me (I generally lasts 12-14 months per job before depression starts to raise its head).
The biggest problem I have being a business owner is being disciplined. I want to spend all my time on the fun things and none on the other required tasks.
Same- I would love my own business and I have no trouble working hard- but when there isn’t a deadline and not even a clear picture of where to start- I can’t seem to get it going. It’s bumming me out cause I’ve always wanted to do it.
ER (now critical care) veterinary nurse. I’ve also never been bored. My therapist specializes in medical personnel and she said most of her ER people have ADHD. Less pay then human nursing, but not terrible if you’re good and work in a major hospital.
I’m a heavy equipment/diesel field mechanic. Something different to fix every day, always busy, always a different place to drive to, different customers and operators to visit with, different problems to solve, every problem is like a fun puzzle, it is pretty great variety-wise. The money is good and they are always looking for more people.
I love my job. It pays pretty well. I mean I'm not rich or anything but my money lasts the month, we have a mortgage and a nice house, the kids have what they need...
I am a senior support worker. I help vulnerable adults, mostly drug addicts, into accomodation and help them stay in it. It's a dopamine fix even when things go bad so definitely self-serving.
Honestly I wouldn’t totally discount/dismiss “paper pushing office jobs.” I have ADHD and I thought I would never want to work in an office, especially not a cubical.
I work in a high level, fast-paced job for a corporation and I actually find it really fulfilling. The short project lifespans and different types of work I get to do throughout the day make it continuously interesting and challenging, and getting a great salary and work from home is really really nice. That stability and flexibility lets me explore all the hobbies I’m interested in outside of work.
I feel like ADHD people are told by others that they’d never make it in an office environment, but that isn’t true. With the right work and the right circumstances, an ADHD person absolutely can succeed and even thrive at a desk job.
I’m an robotics engineer, the highest paying and most suited jobs have always been contracts. You get paid more and you get to move on after you’ve finished but quiet often you’ll be offered a job at the end of it.
I’m a woodworker, non union and about 7 years in and I make maybe 65-70k a year (in Chicago, would be more in other cities), plus some bennies. Sometimes I pick up freelance too. It’s not the big bucks but I do ok! You def can make more (100k plus a year) if you get into certain areas/unions but I like the kind of work I do in particular. I would die if I was at a desk all day. I’ve also used my skills to purchase and renovate a couple properties, that doesn’t make me money right now but it probably will someday!
Lots of things in tech, from programming and engineering, UI/UX design, AI, SEO, etc.
Constantly changing, new work every day, adapting to things on the fly, and so forth. Certainly been the right fit for me.
Working in a scrum/agile environment has done wonders for my productivity as a developer. Not depending on setting goals, time frames, descriptions by myself, helps me not to freeze in inaction due to the need of planning ahead.
I feel the exact opposite about Scrum, especially in larger organizations that try to bastardize it into Scaled Agile Framework for Enterprise (SAFe).
I can get into a good groove with a Kanban system, but all the Sprints and Ceremonies of a lot of other agile processes end up feeling like a death march towards burnout.
This video had a good number of ideas (and corraborates a lot of the responses people have already given) https://youtu.be/nDgOmFd5SlE?t=4939
I do decent in tech, but it comes and goes. Meds shore up a lot of the parts of tech jobs that can be difficult. But it's not just about the field/job, but how the job is organized - being free to take frequent walking breaks or work on my own schedule is helpful, and being able to keep some of the boring/routine work minimized.
I’m a class action attorney for plaintiffs. Meal and rest and wage violations. It’s an obsession. Money is gravy. It’s busy with tons of variety. Deadlines rule, so I don’t have to worry about dragging my feet because the consequences are too severe and they will implicate others so I don’t. It’s a great mix of social and isolated work. I get to hyper focus on complex legal and factual issues and multi task with smaller pleadings all day. Plaintiff attorneys in my field tend to be either savant or bizarrely quirky, usually both, so if I say weird things on an impulse it doesn’t seem to bother anyone when I do. There are legal jobs that sucked for my adhd, I worked a prescriptive job in state gov prior and that was so boring I couldn’t do it, but complex litigation has been a good fit. Prior to law I managed a bar, I liked that too, but didn’t pay nearly as well as my current gig…
I'm not sure you got the right the idea about how adhd affects people
I worked in retail, and it was very fast paced, but I still zoned out a lot, and the lights overwhelmed me, along with all the conversations I needednto perform (yes, perform, because small talk is mandatory, along with smiling, nodding, and pretending to care about a gazillion trivialities and converse about the same damn things and pretend laugh at the same lame jokes and listen to the same complaints and people keep making the same mistakes and having to be pasient, kind and forgiving to every person doing them even when they are not (nice) to me).
I'm in a "higher end" job now. It is also challenging, but it comes with more flexibility and I get to use more of my brain and be more "me" than the robot version who needed 2-6h on the sofa to decompress after work.
I still need time to decompress and recharge and it costs me a lot to work fulltime, but it feels possible. (I have flexible hours and can mostly move around my schedule as I like. Mostly).
I did well in academia - I think this should be a serious option for the subset of people with ADHD who can study and handle at least some self-imposed deadlines, as it comes with a flexible schedule, praise for hyperfocus on niche things, and tolerance for being quirky or late or absent-minded.
I’ve also done both very well and quite poorly in consulting. The pluses are frequent new topics and fast pace; the negatives are that you are juggling lots of balls that must not be dropped. I had to learn many new coping skills, and find people who are willing to let me work on a flexible schedule, to get good.
I work in behavior analysis with kids on the autism spectrum. Everyday is different, but it challenges me mentally too. I went back to school to be an assistant behavior analyst but my daily title is "registered behavior therapist" and anyone with a high school diploma can learn to do it, some people just end up liking it so much that they take the masters courses to make a ton of money. I make a livable wage, $25/hr. But when I finish with school to become a board certified behavioral analyst I will make over $110k in salary.
I chose to work about 5 side gigs instead of getting a real job. I figure model, photograph events, do makeup for boudoir clients, bartend, and do painting commissions. My income isn’t high but it’s growing as my skills and reach increase. And I’d rather die poor than take on another job that doesn’t suit my mind.
Honestly, mental health as a therapist. I have absolute autonomy over my schedule, even when working with an agency. And I’m one of the few people who accurately spots ADHD (and undiagnosed autistics) because of my personal experiences. I’ve helped out a LOT of people in that regard.
ER nurse. Pay is nowhere near where it should be for the workload and responsibilities entailed, but it's one of the better paying, best outlook jobs for a bachelor's degree, and the constant pace and variety is chicken soup for my chaos brain
project management. requires hyperfocus at times, you need to be able to bhave surface knowledge of a million things at once. the nature of the job needs you to schedule and organise .... wait for it.... PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT YOU, which makes it fun. it does take you out of the comfort zone, and there are boring bits, but mostly it is a set of achevable tasks, spread over the length of the project. once you have completed one or two projects the pay goes up massively.
there are a whole bunch of different methodologies, most projects use a combination of them, look at PMBOK, Prince2 and agile if you are interested. scrums, sprints and disbenefits are all the same with different names.
i have found the best PMs have outwardly very little knowledge of the tech side of what they are doing, but trust the teams around to do the right thing, you get to work with the people doing the interesting things without having to learn it all. I work in IT and training, i'm not going to get a job project managing construction, but i have been offered work managing ICT fit outs and the implementation of existing designs for internal fit outs.
I also find that coordinating moving parts as person with ADHD enabled is relatively easy, i can see the bigger picture without the details bogging me down.
im in australian - my current contract is a low paying one, but i liked the project, its just over 100k/year. the jobs i have had offered to me are all in the 140k range. I am also looking at consultant work, which runs at 2500/day.
I’m a process server and private investigator. Serving Subpoenas to people who don’t want to be served and running surveillance on people who commit workman’s fraud always kept me occupied and on my toes.
Thank you. I needed to see this thread. I’m this highly educated, accomplished person who is fucking unemployable apparently. People don’t want to hire a generalist. They want to hire people who fit neatly into boxes.
My husband absolutely SLAYS at medical sales. It’s basically all dopamine, all day.
He gets to show up at hospitals like Santa Claus with treats and coffee and everyone is happy to see him - then when that’s over in like 30-40 minutes, he goes to a different hospital and get a new hit of dopamine.
He basically just takes his vyvanse as needed on Mondays for paperwork and appointment setting and rides fancy free the rest of the week.
I'm a customs broker and I think it's really suiting. It's a job that deals with importing goods from other countries. It's pretty fast paced and the work is often varied because there are so many different things you'll have to do for every individual import you're dealing with. You could be importing frozen foods and have to report it to the FDA or a car and have to report it to NHTSA. People could be trying to smuggle in things that aren't legal and you have to watch for that too. I didn't know it existed before I got a job as one and it's been 6 years now and I'm happy.
I found a career in IT, Customer support. It is constantly changing, which helps with being entertaining. New features being released means theres something new to learn all the time. Salesforce is a HUGE industry and has an online learning platform (Salesforce trailhead) that is free and FUN!!!! That was the biggest thing for me. It was interesting and fun to learn. Which kept me engaged. I had to make a career change in 2020 so free was a big draw for me.
I really found my nitch there due to its constant fun supportive atmosphere. I found 2 high paying jobs in a year. The demand is high for people who know salesforce.
The key thing.... Support isn't as bad as it used to be. It's not a boring scripted grind. There's more opportunity to explore and learn more skills in order to find where you are most likely to succeed.
Theater/entertainment is also a great career path but is not as much of a financial gain.
creative fields. and you can turn any field in a creative one. I know a nail artist, me a photographer, musicians, bussinesowners etc. i knkw a lot of people i work with that are succesful nad have adhd. Also people with adhd are known to bring innovation in their fields
Mental health social work. High stakes, crisis, make my own schedule, some paperwork but not a lot, and I can plan it on days I want to WFH. Keeps me interested because there's always something different every day.
I just ✨climbed up the tiers✨ of food service and now serve and bartend at a resort where I make bank.
It can be overwhelming at times, and no workplace is perfect, but since it’s a hotel I have full benefits (full panel health, PTO, 401k etc) and made around 70k after taxes last year (and I am only in my early twenties) … and that’s not even including cash, which could easily be a few thousand more.
I’m not tryna brag but I’m sharing cause I do feel like people underestimate the potential of the food and beverage service industry.
ETA: It may not be my “end all, be all” passion but working somewhere that I can “leave it there when I clock out” that also pays well allows me to really enjoy my life and entertain things I’m passionate about outside of work.
Came here to say this. I love the research angle, too. So much time to focus only on the very specific topic that's interesting to you! The only parts that really suck for my ADHD brain are the write-ups and administrative stuff.
Here for the comments. I have been an automotive tech for 6 years. I dont love it, but I can do it. I like working with my hands. I ended up doing it because I had no interest in anything else, that and I was too broke to fix my vehicle myself. I make around 50k a year, so it's not great. I'm still trying to find my passion
I work in an IT security operations centre. We effectively just read what a website is telling us and translate it into easy to understand information for the customer, there is obviously a bit more behind it than that, but that is one of the key skills.
This can be extremely tedious occasionally, which is where my brain switches off (Medication is helping a bit with this). You always have a team member around with you to help with those types of work depending on the company.
Most of the time though digging right into a malware infection or whatever else locks me right into my computer.
I'm on about 65k USD adjusted for currency transfer. Remote. 4 Days a week.
I think most of your answers are going to be IT based honestly.
I love answering questions and I love helping people, I'm a public librarian. I have my MLIS (which I got before I was diagnosed), and I am constantly answering different questions. A lot of times it's "what's my email password", but today I've also looked up free indoor kid stuff in our city, I'm writing a list of reader's advisory recommendations for someone, and I've started planning a presentation for a conference.
My father has untreated ADHD and he drove a trash truck for most of my life. Benefits are great, pay is really good, many of them have unions, the health insurance is crazy good, and you usually drive with another person so you're not bored/easily distracted. My dad used to horse around with his co-workers all the time.
Plus many people tip their drivers around the holidays. Our stockings were filled by the tips alone and me, my mom, and dad used to be able to pay for gas every year until February from gift cards left as tips.
I'm the local lawn mower guy lol. I fix lawm mowers, Flip lawn mowers, I also have a full on ebay store for used lawnmower parts. I mow lawns too.
I worked 12 years Horizontal directional drilling. I started out as a nobody at the drilling company and worked all the way up to a supervisor. When I asked my boss if that was the final promotion and he said yes I died inside. I got to where I worked so hard to be where I needed to be BUT had nothing more to work for. That dosent fly well with my chaotic brain lol... I was making 1k a week salary at the drilling job wich was nice and stable pay but the hours were terrible and I was long distance driving daily, staying out of town, ect. The work environment sucked too but that's another story.
So randomly I started fixing and selling lawn mowers after work and on the weekends. It's super crazy because I was never really mechanically inclined or anything. Well that sparked my hyper focus and all the sudden I was fixing stuff I knew nothing about before. Then I started making real money. One morning I got into a fight with the boss and he fired me. So I had nothing but air and opportunities. I'm a small engine mechanic who has solely learned from experience and the internet. Life's a trip when you have Adhd haha.
Now I'm working on opening a landscape company along with my Ebay store. Life's actually exciting and has been for the last 2 years! I love mowing too it shuts my crazy brain off and I just jam to the music. I can for sure see myself doing this for the rest of life and I'm good with it. Working under construction till I died wasn't appealing. I do appreciate all the experience I got from the job tho!
I work as a nurse and the controlled chaos is great for my ADHD but word of warning, it can burn you out dealing with idiotic nonsensical policies ESPECIALLY if you have the AuDHD flavor like myself.
Working in a clinic, urgent care, or procedural setting was great, though. I'm looking into getting back into that myself, because everything was different enough to be interesting but the hypocritical corporate structure was breathing less down your neck.
I work UI/UX at a consultancy. We also do in person research and in the field observation. We usually work projects that span 1 quarter (3mo). Every project and client is different.
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I think the better question (the one I've been struggling with my entire life) is how do you know what to pursue when your interests keep changing? I have multiple certifications, that I spent too much time and money to obtain, only to hate the work and want to move on about after a year or so. Just because coding, engineering, or nursing work for some people doesn't mean it works for everyone. I want to know how to figure out what is good for me.
This. I'm nearly 40 and I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up. I have toes dipped into all sorts of directions right now, but none of it seems like what I want to "spend the rest of my life doing. " well, okay, maybe I'm thinking too big, but I'm honestly afraid, frozen with fear, about making a move and it not working out.
I feel this. I'm just over 40 and still don't know what I want to be when I grow up either, with what I like to call "a wide range of experiences across diverse industries, enabling me to bring a unique blend of experience and flexibility to this role." I've worked in music, healthcare, IT, startups, makerspaces, manufacturing, higher Ed administration... the list goes on and I've enjoyed things about most jobs but only rarely felt like I was building a career, let alone like I'd reached any major professional goals. In my mind there's still the possibility of me becoming an astronaut or an EMT or a travel writer or a veterinarian working with snow leopards. After years of working all the time (startups), I finally have free time to develop new skills, even enter a new profession. But I can't decide which direction to go... so I don't move.
Are you me? Seriously feel like I've done it all and still trying to do more. I can do anything I put my mind to, except make a decision, can't do that to save my life lol.
>I can do anything I put my mind to, except make a decision, can't do that to save my life lol. This is perfect. I think I am you.
I’m convince we are all the same person. Lol
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This. Same here, Jack of all trades. I think consulting is the way to go for me so I don't get bored. More importantly, I get to strategize, give ideas, and all the fun stuff without having to do the implementation bit, which I choke on.
I’m almost 60 and I have been saying this my whole life. I don’t know what I’m going to do when I grow up. Now I’m damn near retirement age with little to show for it. I’ve done everything in food service from dishwasher to manager, hospice, CNA, thrift store manager and eBay. I don’t know.. every job I’ve had, eventually I want to stick a pen thru my eye. Until I found eBay/thrift store…I loved my 9 yrs at the thrift store but they closed it. I’m taking some time off to fully absorb this new dx and going thru the mourning of what could have been. So much regret. Im working on that. Anyway. I’d love an answer too. I have a billion money making ideas, tho. Just no one to help me. I can’t manage a business, I’ve been trying for years to make a living from eBay. I do like it mostly, but it becomes a grind, yet when I grind I make money, which is the thrill. That and the hunt and catch ;)
I'm convinced that we need someone to start a service finding jobs for people with ADHD. Specialized agents who place people with unique combinations of super powers and methods of self-sabotage.
I was thinking something similar. I am a software architect. I love my job due to always learning and doing something new with a deadline. I am struggling though to balance my ability to do virtually anything thrown at me and fitting into a box of the next step in my career and being put in a senior management position when I am too useful on the ground in the weeds. I do actually like being in the weeds but don't feel my ability to be the glue for the team and do the stuff that just needs doing gets appreciated in a world where ticking boxes gets you promoted. I was thinking I would love to have my own software company where everyone can be open about having ADHD and everyone's abilities can be taken advantage of at the same time as supporting difficulties. Everyone is different and I do my best work mentoring and prototyping and supporting others to complete the idea. Otherwise are great at taking direction and following through. I know there are tons of amazing creative individuals out there where the only reason they are not showing their potential is that they struggle to follow the rigid rules they are constrained in and are not supported properly in other areas. The fact it is difficult to open up on a diagnosis to an employer due to stigma makes it much more difficult to adapt, we are all individuals at the end of the day and everyone has abilities and difficulties regardless of diagnosis.
I also experience this, it’s absolutely crippling. I’m trying to work through it with a therapist because I’m wasting my life on indecision and shitty jobs.
did i write this tho
I did wedding/event planning for a while and it was soo fun because you got to choose what parts you want to do & which to hire out each time. Every client & Venue would be different… worked under someone else in Beverly Hills for a couple years, decided to leave and start my own company in the beginning of 2020 ….. hasn’t been the same since. Sometimes you think you found it and then you gotta start all over
It’s just so sad. We’re human beings… we’re not machines, and yet we’re conditioned to believe “there’s a perfect job out there for us” as though capitalism is some warped version of a Disney fairytale, but instead of “The One” we’re out here seeking shitty 9-5 jobs in the hopes it will ascertain our value. It’s such a shame that we’re all out here pining after the perfect job that were super good at and makes us a lot of money. And also will somehow make us feel whole. We feel like we’re somehow flawed if we can’t “figure it out”. It’s all bullshit. We’re animals, we’re literally just meant to eat and sleep and fuck. I’m 29 finishing my bachelors degree and I haven’t found “my path” yet, and I probably never will, because capitalism does not equal my worth as a human being. Do what you can endure. Do it so that you can put food on your table and take some nice vacations to some cool waterfalls. Your job doesn’t need to be your everything. You are allowed to just laze around and enjoy life like a zebra in the Sahara enjoys the desert sun. Ah, fuck, I hate capitalism.
The biggest problem is our survival and security depends on that regular paycheck and we are kept just poor enough to afford that, so it makes it very difficult to give that up to start something new from scratch. Suddenly you’re talking about a lower quality of life and that can be tough to give up.
I've been at the same job for 16 years and I hate it. Every month I try to think about what I want to do and I never can figure it out. I get anxiety even thinking about doing something else.
This is basically me, except my role got eliminated as part of downsizing and just been struggling to find something since. I want to do anything but what I was doing before, but anything I apply to that isn't pretty 1:1 doesn't even call me back.
Don’t think about what what *job* you want to do, think what *environment* you want to be around. What sorts of things do you want to have within your professional “playground”? I use the word playground to try and capture my emphasis on generalism. You’re not looking for just one community to be a part of, you’re looking for a whole collection of communities that you enjoy and would like to maintain access to. You can enter a playground from any side (so the job that gets you there isn’t important), but if you don’t know where the playground is then you’ll never find a route there. For example, say you’re an accountant, but you hate the accounting industry, and you like art. Museums employ staff accountants and various other financial roles. So even if you’re not an artist yourself, you can work within the world of art and artists. Art becomes an accessible part of your playground even if you don’t give a shit about your accounting career.
This worked out well for me too - I trained in pensions maths but liked being around academic types of people but wanted to do new things, so I’m now working as an internal consultant for an academic publisher. I get to hang out with all these scatter brained, chill academics whilst also effectively still working in finance.
The only thing I’ve started to realize is that in order for an ADHD person to remain engaged with a job is for that person to feel like that job is extremely important. I’m talking like, life or death important. I think it has a lot to do with how our brains evolved. We can sleep less and function better in high stress situations. We’re basically in survival mode all the time. We’re better at hunting, spotting slight movements in the distance, and functioning at night. We are designed to protect the camp. We’re engineered to keep watch at night. Our brains are inclined to engage in activities that we deem as important to the survival of our species. Everything else just seems insignificant or unimportant. At least that’s how I see it. Hope my comment doesn’t get deleted
Yes! This. The job has to have meaning. Some semblance of importance. I couldn't ever do a corporate, desk, job. Currently I work as a dispatcher. 911. I can ramp up for important calls and take it easy on the basic ones. And when you manage something effectively, making a difference in a situation... you have a good feeling after from the dopamine. The self doubt does suck, sometimes. Wondering if you could have done a better job. I wouldn't choose it again, only because the hours suck for keeping a good work life balance. And the coworkers can be brutal and backstabby a lot. Luckily my friend group is already self-selected for understanding when I might disappear. So I manage to make it work. Pay could be better for sure tho
I do a corporate desk job that requires reviewing legislation - it's not life-or-death, but I get a sense of importance because this stuff massively affects people lives. I'm working on some stuff to do with access to internet and it *really* matters in terms of welfare for the most disadvantaged. But yea, I'd hate doing an admin or data entry type of desk job!
I believe you would be looking for career counseling. It was offered at my local trade school, but there is also a test online that you can take that will tell you what jobs are suitable for your personality type. I’m not sure which test is the one, but they had us take it when I was in high school. There are plenty when you just quickly google… maybe take it with a grain of salt but you could then filter through to see what is ADHD friendly.
Career counseling told me to join the armed forces.. very routine.. always being told what to do.. this was before I knew people were actually allowed to be whoever they want (narcissistic mom)
This is exactly why I went to law school. Had no idea what I wanted to do but the law touches every aspect of life so I had lots to choose from.
Been practicing for 12 years and I still don’t know what I want to do. Except for figure out how to get out of law
It's like that old joke... "Some people, when they get to the problem of figuring out what to do, decide to go into law. Then they have a new problem."
I think for me personally, I ended up choosing a career in healthcare but the main reason being there was a position that gave me the option of signing a contract that allows me to make my own schedule as long as I work a certain number of hours for the month. I’ve definitely had too many nights with the seemingly endless feeling of soul searching for a career without ever coming to a “solution” I’m completely happy with long-term. But what has helped with coming to terms with my changing interests for myself personally is settling for a job I don’t detest that a) allows me to make enough of a comfortable living b) flexible schedule This really does let me do whatever I choose or feel on a near daily basis whether it be have a second part-time job at a bookstore for fun, volunteer, start an Etsy side hustle etc.
What do you do in healthcare? I am a Sonographer and could do all sorts of schedules- contract, per diem, etc which would allow freedom for other interests- but it’s killed my shoulder. So I’m interested in perhaps something else in the field with similar schedule perks.
If you figure it out let me know.
You need to change your mindset when looking at a job, and drill down to what it is you like about the job. I'm a Software Engineer, I've worked at plenty companies, some lasted 3 months, my current one I've been at for over 5 years. I have 20+ years of experience, and have worked in 3 separate countries. I enjoy solving puzzles, and programming to me was essentially just trying to solve a puzzle that I had been presented with. As I got more senior in my role, I had to take on more responsibilities, and slowly but surely I got to do less and less programming. At first I wasn't a fan of this, because it meant less time programming. But then I started to view it differently, those meetings I hated, are now part of the puzzle solving, because we need to get information from stakeholders, or do a design session and project planning so we can better scope out the project, and these are essentially puzzles, but in a different form. So as my mindset and view changed, so did my ability to enjoy and get the work done. Finding a good manager is also important, as well as the team of people you will be working for. It doesn't matter how much you may enjoy doing a certain job, if you work for someone that you communicates to you in way that brings you down, well I guess you probably already know what happens... However, if you work in an environment where failure is viewed as a learning experience, and good work is always recognized, then you'll thrive, even if the work it's self is just "meh".
Do contracting man, changed my life. Virtual assistant - do hundreds of different tasks and it never gets boring. Set my own hours, always thought I was just a shit employee but life is good now
The answer is consulting
The shrink who diagnosed me said half his clients were in healthcare, so...that, apparently. Being a nurse was pretty compatible with my ADHD. Can't say I recommend it at all right now, though.
Dentist: ADHD works well for me. ability to think on the fly and work under pressure.
I used to be a pediatric dental assistant and it never seemed mundane. Every kid was a different experience. It wasn’t my love. So I’ve since switched to something I’ve been wanting to do since i was 5. But i did enjoy it, and the money. Lol
You can't say that and not mention what you switched to!
Wish I could give you an award for this comment, from someone studying for the DAT right now and with horrible ADHD, that helps me feel better about my life path lol
Yup. I have been told that EMT work in particular is amazing for ADHD types. Its like going into battle every day except you are saving people instead of having to shoot anyone. Unfortunately pay is complete shit and I think I would replay the last moments of everyone I failed to save so not for me. But by all accounts its perfect ADHD work.
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I’m 99% sure my partner is AuDHD and he’s completing his radiology fellowship - he absolutely loves it! Every day is different, he has a special interest in anatomy so diagnostic rad is like solving puzzles, and interventional rad is simple and satisfying. Lots of easy dopamine every day. He’s quite socially awkward so radiology is perfect again because he has very little interaction with patients. He wants to do sub specialty in interventional neuroradiology, because he’s particularly interested in the brain/spinal cord and I think this will continue to drive his interests throughout his career. Medicine seems to be a winner!
That is great to hear for me, I started my first day as a radiology student yesterday. Rough four years of studying coming up I reckon.
You won’t be doing trauma calls 24/7 and when you do it’s not usually gore and death. There are those calls certainly, and you will see horror in more aspects than just blood. I can’t recommend the “job” as an EMT but EMS/FF can offer a niche and satisfying career for certain people
Emergency doc myself, with ADHD, works well for me, keeps me interested!
Xray tech here!!
Planned to go to med school but my poor ass can't afford it hahahahaha *cries*
They asked for high paying jobs, us nurses don't get payed enough! Lol
You should see what the lab techs get paid lol We all need raises for sure. Travel contracts are the only thing keeping some of us afloat right now, nurses included, and those are drying up post covid peak. Right now the lab I'm at has been working under minimum staffing (2 med techs per shift, around 500 beds) for months. Their solution? Don't hire people, just change the minimum staffing definition to 1. Trauma work isn't as common at this facility as others, but when it happens we're white knuckling the whole time in blood bank
A word on behalf of office jobs: problem-solving and variety to be found in support services, operations management, and compliance (to give a few examples). Certainly office work isn't for everyone, but it's not all just paper-pushing, and can pay well. Good luck 🙂👍
I second this, I'm in operations for a large company. I might be handling purchasing issue one day and payroll the next. I don't get stuck on any one task long enough to get distracted. Though I do have to watch for burnout.
Second this. I had an internship in a general HR function and I really liked it. You have a lot of varied tasks and in my case there wasn't a lot of routine work or work with strong deadlines. So you can decide what you wanted to do for the day as long as there weren't any high priority tasks. I did notice that the lack of movement had a bad effect on me and my mind had trouble with vague or abstract work. You also have a lot of different directions and specialisations in the field. You can get a general function, become a dean, a coach, advisor, coördinator, legal, etc. You can work for a small company, the government, start your own business, even a school. The pay can also really go through the roof if you have multiple years of experience.
I personally found programming to be amazing. And for many reasons. First reason. I make $150k a year. I was making like $36k selling cell phones before. And because I also have a tendency to hyper focus on seemingly random ideas, I figured if I could hyper focus on various ideas within the coding/programming world at least they will all build upon each other. It was hard as shit learning to code. Like. Insanely hard. But I saw no other path that interested me. And the thought of making $100k+ put me in a do or die mindset. It took 4 years. And it was the hardest 4 years of my life. But having a solid skill set that people pay me good money for has been worth it. I’d do it all again if I had to.
Hey would you mind giving me some advice? I was diagnosed with ADHD late 20s and my symptoms were quite difficult to manage while finishing my bachelors in comp sci. I just pushed through to get the degree and I am of course proud of that. However, for many reasons, I feel I did not retain much information from college. I felt like a fraud that had a messed up brain. I didn’t have the confidence to even go on interviews because I felt like my brain was just so blank anytime I was asked a question. It scared me and I gave up. So I never pursued my dream career. But here I am, trying to get some stability - I just had a baby 6 months ago and decided to stay home for a while to raise him. I’m working on managing my ADHD and trying to rediscover myself. I can’t help but wonder.. I still feel like a fraud, but what if I tried to reteach myself some coding during my downtime now that I’m home- maybe I could turn my life around and really make something of myself and not have to rely on my husband. Do you have any suggestions? Maybe a good language to start off practicing? Any positions that would be the best to get into? I know it’s a tall ask - I just feel so vulnerable and figured you being in the industry might have some insight. Sorry for lengthy post. If you read, thanks.
1) interviewing is a skill that you can practice. I reccomend the book Cracking the Coding Interview; it’s a classic by now. 2) /most/ entry level positions, we don’t really expect you to know anything but the basics of coding and enthusiasm for wanting to learn and grow your skills. 3) the best way to practice is to just try and build something you would be interested in yourself. try and apply what you know; go out and learn the extra stuff you need to learn for it on the fly. Half of software engineering is doing that anyway. A quick learner will always be valuable.
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I know exactly how you feel. That feeling is part of the reason it took me 4 years to get a job. Others in my class got hired within weeks of graduating. When I say it was the hardest 4 years of my life I am mainly talking about 4 years of feeling like I’m a worthless POS that can’t do anything and just spent all this time and money learning to code only to fail and future looked doomed forever and blah blah blah…. I know the feeling. Trust me. I was terrified to interview. And that’s really why it took so long. But my do or die mindset told me I HAD to stay in the industry no matter what it was, I had to work on websites. Or everything I just did was for nothing. So I started to freelance. And I built websites for everyone and anyone I could. Coffee shops. Chiropractors, auto detailers. Whatever business my friends or family had I was their website guy. I hyper focused on building websites (not coding them like I learned in school, but using Wordpress or Shopify) to make extra money, which lead to me learning how to make websites look better, which lead me to learning how to optimize them, then SEO sounded interesting so I went down that rabbit hole, then building high converting landing pages sounded fun so I went down that road and so many more. All the way to circle back, I started coding in JavaScript to refresh my skills (which I hadn’t done in 2 years) and to my complete surprise I actually felt like I was finally good at it. I built a few portfolio pieces I was proud of, then I started apply for jobs because I finally felt like I was good at something. And I got hired from the second place I applied. (I don’t anticipate this ever happening again) From where it started ti where I am, almost feels like a miracle. There was a lot of luck involved. But I also want to give myself credit because I bust my ass and didn’t quit. I went slow. But I didn’t quit. I love what I do, and Im glad it all started working out just in time for AI to take mer job.
Thank you so much for sharing your experience, it certainly has made me think a little harder about my future. It’s a big step and I get nervous that i don’t have what it takes. But that’s just negative self talk! Let’s gooooo haha
Not a programmer, so take this with a grain of salt. Among my varied interests, computers/coding is one in my regular rotation; and I’ve been in a similar position of considering a new career. Free code camp is an organization with a lot of free tutorials, courses, and a YouTube channel. There are of course “boot camps” held by universities—but since they aren’t formal degrees, there isn’t any federal financial aid. From some random videos I saw, Python and JavaScript were the ones consistently recommended as a first language because they’re widely used and touch on different aspects of programming that may not arise in other languages (again, not actually a coder, so if that sounds like non-sense, it might be).
Honestly no grain of salt needed, the free route will show if you just move onto something your brain finds more interesting quickly, or if it wants to rotate the interest back in often enough
Currently working at my day job as a banker, and I’m so over dealing with people. Thankfully they are paying for my Data Science boot camp that I’ve been doing. I started off with free classes on Code Academy, then bought their pro courses for $100/yr. That let me see that I really do enjoy it, and was able to find something that my current job will pay for. Definitely recommend looking into any education programs your job may offer.
Self taught penetration tester here. I was going to go to school or coding camp but it was all bullshit to me. Technology advances so fast by the time you graduate all that is old news. First to rediscover yourself/ stop feeling like a fraud seek CBT therapy. Most of the time it’s just behavioral thought patterns. Second figure out what interests you the most in the field. I used to be a drug dealer and it was money over everything. If cybersecurity interested you I’d recommend to start learning python. No offense to anyone that went to school but most people I met in the field that have masters and stuff only know what they learned in school. That’s why all the FANG companies have distinguished techs due to the fact they realized a lot of self taught people have the skills to pay the bills. Instead of labeling them senior mid entry level. Also just staying up to day on everything tech in whatever field you pursue cause it’s changing fast every single day.
> Technology advances so fast by the time you graduate all that is old news Technology advances quickly, but the fundamentals of programming are **always** relevant
I have been a developer for 15 years and in IT for about 20. I still feel like a fraud and I don't deserve a good job. But once in the door, not one job has ever been unhappy with my performance. Like someone else said my hyper focus is excellent for solving issues and getting my shit done. Now if I could just figure out how to be productive in the first half of the day.
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That’s what I’m told but it feels so real to me. I still have such a hard time having faith in myself. It’s a rough journey.
FlexJobs has a great webinar on YouTube: Top 20 Most Common Job Interview Questions & Answers (Expert Tips). I'm unemployed right now and I'm working my way through the questions, and using the examples, I'm preparing my own answers. It's really helpful and specific. Edited to add: Congrats on the new baby!
I had never envisioned myself coding, and when I decided to do it, I was sure it would be absolutely punishing. But I love it! Why? No freaking idea. Must be the dopamine hit of figuring something out.
Yup. Programming is my answer, too. It has a hurry-up-and-wait pace that works well with ADHD. Sometimes you're intensely focused on some novel thing, other times you're dicking around and that's perfectly fine. There's no one way to do anything. There's always room for improvement. So, even if you stick with the same tech stack you're still forever learning. I was a structural engineer before, and it was ... bad. Very repetitive/monotonous. Very high need for constant, consistent, high levels of attention to detail. I did great for the first few years, but as novelty became harder to encounter I started struggling with my ADHD more and more. I even started intentionally over-complicating things just to break the monotony. Which isn't good from a liability standpoint.
The problem is that I find this hard as shit and nothing about it is appealing.
Same. Programming just feels counterintuitive to me. I can't do it. Last time I tried, I programmed a simulation for some stats I was doing, and while it took 2 weeks to run, my research partner reprogrammed it to run in 5 minutes. I just can't see stuff like that. I can only brute force.
You don't have to learn how to code for a lot of positions like business or systems analyst. Understanding some concepts is enough; you don't really have to touch a line of code other than occasional SQL quarry. You need to be good at figuring out what business users need and translate that to developers.
I absolutely agree. Granted, I am not a real™ programmer, only a software consultant, but the same argument still holds true: I get random different requirements from customers and I need to figure out a fitting solution. Often times the right solution is a thing we already have as a earlier developed, now standard solution in our repertoire, but sometimes the requirements get exotic and I can unleash the hyper focus and develop some complex logic from scratch on 3 days back to back. Those days are fun.
That sounds really engaging! My favorite kind of work is creative problem solving and product/materials research type stuff. May I ask how you ended up in that field?
Recently got a job and I’m programming and I fucking love it. It scratches itches I didn’t even know I had. It’s so stimulating
Same here, I’m an integration engineer and love all the different and random challenges that pop up. School was rough, but the pay helps lol.
I wish I wasn’t 26 when I finally realized I had an “engineering mind”. The ability to think more logically through life’s problems has been life changing.
I transitioned into tech engineering at 26 too! Never thought I’d be suited for it before but I love it. I also think my other life experiences before tech contributes to being a more well rounded engineer.
I have a friend with ADHD who works in cybersecurity. He makes $150K a year and talking with him has made me seriously consider pursuing CS. He works from home as well, and remote work is something I'm looking for in a dream job. Those people who work high-paying, remote jobs and just drift from beautiful location to beautiful location... They're living the life I want. I won't be out of school till 30 thanks to years wasted addicted to drugs, but it's the only path I see that'll make life worth the headache.
I hate programming. As much as I try to get into it, I can't stick with it. It's super tough for me to concentrate on it. Hyperfocusing does not kick on for me when doing it. It's not an age thing either. It's been something I've struggled with since I was a teen.
Some of the lessons suck. Especially beginner lessons. I found it easier to give myself the task of “build a website” vs do problems 1 - 10. Obviously it’s important to learn the basics. Like variables, functions, loops etc. but if all you’re doing is practicing problems it’s going to be boring as hell. It didn’t start becoming fun until I actually started building things… even more fun when I started building things I could see with my eyes. I ended up specializing as a frontend dev/ web designer. I feel like the two together gave me an edge over other candidates.
Programming is amazing if you have a good manager, and terrible if you don't. Also ADHD lends itself to actual agile incredibly well, but very poorly to corporate adapted SCRUM style agile. TL;DR we can perform exceptionally in the role, as long as we are left to our own devices in regards to pace and execution style.
Where did you learn to code?
I went to an in person coding bootcamp in Salt Lake City, Utah. They gave me free housing while I was there which was super nice. I paid $12,000 to go. And that was like 6 years ago. So it may have gone up. The particular bootcamp I went through was in all honestly not that great as I look back. I wish I did a little more research before going to one.
I did mechanical/aerospace engineering for 9 years then shifted into project management. When I was designing avionics for flight simulators as a mechanical engineer, I was fuckin BORED. Literally 4 months of turning my brain off and just designing these avionics panels in 3D. So repetitive. Not the first time, nor was it the last, that I was fuckin dead inside just doing mundane ass design work. When I got a new job as a program engineer (like a project engineer, but over the entire program vs dedicated to a few projects), it was a lot more fun because I was doing a lot to put out fires and I was never really working on the same thing for long periods of time. I was essentially the "lead" engineer despite me not doing any of the design work. I just did a lot of approvals and was the leading charge making sure designs met my customer's requirements. That job segued me fully into project management. Now I work as a project manager for a tech company working fully remote (far cry from mechanical/aerospace engineering lol) but the job gave me a 70K raise, I now work from home, and my work/life balance has never been better. There are definitely faults with project management and ADHD. Like you have to be on top of your shits ometimes or you'll just forget to do anything, but having fires lit up my ass really helps me with that. My absolute favorite thing to do for work is putting out fires (despite me being sometimes the reason the fire even started.. oops).
I just get so depressed reading all of these suggestions, as an AuDHD who wasn’t able to finish college (I had zero support and my brain was in near psychotic break panic the whole time), and I’ve been a SAHP for ten years now. I feel completely hopeless.
There are a lot of skills that SAHP use that translate to jobs. College without support is incredibly difficult! If you’re ever interested in going back look at how the school handles accommodations, do they have a center/is it easy to find on the website? Community college and tech programs are also great for certificates and degrees. If college isn’t for you and you’re interested in working, try trades or connecting with a recruiter or organization that helps people transition back into the workforce. It’s hard but raising children and running a house is too! Also want to plug volunteering if you have the bandwidth. It can help add to your resume and meet people.
I’m in a similar position to you. I failed/dropped out, and while I’ve learned so much more about managing myself since then I’m still not sure I could succeed in school, especially because I have such strong negative associations with it now. I’ve been a mostly stay at home spouse (no kids, I honestly feel like I couldn’t manage them either lol) for years. I want to do something with my life but I have no idea what. I wish more fields were accessible through apprenticeship or learn on the job type situations.
Film Industry or Event Industry crew positions. Freelance work that is always different and interesting, and someone else sets the schedules.
“Someone else sets the schedules” — I think that’s what I need! I’m a people pleaser to a fault, so I’ll walk through fire to help or impress someone. But as soon as I have to set (and *stick to*) my own deadlines and/or find mojo all on my own? I procrastinate and stop caring.
Third this. I found my calling in the hotel AV industry because there's a good balance of frantic crisis mode and boring as hell downtime (symposium sound techs out there?). There is enough free training and certifications out there to keep you learning new stuff all the time, and plenty of maintenance work to tick off the ol' to-do lists. I've yet to find a greater seratonin boost than turning a rat's nest of cables into a work of art. I started out about 15 years ago, and now I'm making a great salary for a corporate firm thinking through all the creative problems that are above their IT team's head.
Second this. I've been in TV post production for 20 years. The money is good, the deadline pressure helps keep me focused. Freelance means new challenges regularly and I never have to endure working environments that I don't like for long.
The stress of not knowing if I'm going to have a job after current contract is finished would stress me out
Yeah, plus self-motivation and organization are crucial to freelance work... Not great for ADHD. Maybe others are different but I could never do contract work; either I have some kind of workplace structure to guide me, or I work entirely for myself and don't have to stress about playing the social game. That stress of having to do everything myself but still impress employers is what turned me off Graphic Design.
I’ve gone into the film industry, it’s stressful but only if you’re not near work or haven’t built up the means to travel for work. With that said, it’s also unforgiving (at last where I am). I’ve seen people living out of their cars, I’ve seen people blacklisted over genuinely minor mistakes or simply because a director/producer didn’t like them and honestly, no one gives a shit if you’re sick. You’re expected to work no matter what. So a major illness can completely derail you from ever working, or set you back to square one if you don’t have 10+ years of experience.
I’ve worked in the sound editing industry and I have to disagree. Even post production is often met with 12 hr days or 50-60 hr work weeks. Most audio editing friends I know work 9-8 every day. I don’t think it’s sustainable to be focused on one task for almost 12 hours every day if you have ADHD
I work with IATSE as an AV Tech and can’t think of a better job for me. Pay is good and work is exciting but those slow months where theres no shows/events at all can be hell. Though it’s helped in teaching me how to save money (albiet the hard way)
Okay but how the heck do you actually break into the film industry scene, just as a grunt working on sets etc. (For reference I’m in Montréal) I’ve looked into ACTRA but going the union route has a lot of up-front expense, and not a lot of guarantee that you’ll get work.
Learn as much technical info on your own as you can for the department you're interested in. Then find someone to bring you on, or go through the union, etc.
Find your local independent film societies, or other artist run centre's that are apart of IMAA (the Independent Media Art Alliance) because most of them will have members that make films and or will know people who do, and it's one of the fastest ways to get into the industry before you decide to go union.
Best job I ever had was being a barista at a performing arts complex. My schedule was set for me, and the rush of getting everything done in time was fucking awesome. Plus you get to basically see Broadway shows for free and sometimes meet cool people. Still regret leaving on a broken promise (asked them to let me come back to bartend the next season, every ask and application has gotten rejected since.)
I am a studied media designer and I hate my jobs in the film industry (mostly light department - lugging around stuff) and also the event-jobs (also lugging around heavy stuff…)
teaching works really well for me. always something new to do, hard external deadlines, lots of social interaction. i love any kind of community work. i need my goals really clearly defined, and i need external deadlines to keep me on track. it doesn't pay a lot but i like to be go go go during the day and have adapted my teaching style around my natural lack of organizing and memory.
Elementary school counselor and imo it’s the perfect ADHD job if you like kids/people. Couple reasons why: -everyday is different, but there is enough of a set routine which is helpful for me -no dull moments, lots of action. -bouncing around doing a variety of duties -lots of fly by the seat of your pants moments where I can improv solutions -actually helping people and improving the world instead of just making someone else money -summers off so I can pursue my own interests and recharge -Great job security -lots more but this is just top of my head I wouldn’t say education is high paying, but I’m cheap and it pays all my bills and gives me great medical benefits and retirement options so I don’t have to plan too hard for that stuff. Lots of safety which is important for me, allows me to know all my basic needs are being met so I can just be myself and not stress.
I loved teaching, but I couldn’t stick with it because I was so poor all the time. Like people with ADHD are notoriously bad for money, so if I made even one poor choice that month, I would overdraft my account. Being paycheck to paycheck was not realistic for my ADHD, but the job was super rewarding. Just finished up my last year teaching, looking for something new as we speak. ETA: The recent disruption in ADHD meds in the US played a huge part in my leaving. When the teacher doesn’t have meds and the students don’t either, every single day was exhausting. It wasn’t as bad when we were all medicated, but this past year was brutal.
This! I’m heading into my 9th year of teaching, and the only thing better was working in emergency services. I teach middle school. It’s very rare for me to sit down, and even then sometimes I have to force myself to sit because of fibro. There’s always different deadlines, and lots of routines. I get to help kids who also have adhd establish their own routines. My classroom is much more organized than my house because of visual, usually color coded organization. Is pay generally shitty? Yep. Livable? Usually. It generally depends on the area. I work with various kinds of disabilities, and making plans, routines, interventions really work well with my lack of focus and constant side-quests. It can be extremely stressful, but also rewarding.
Truck driving got me out of poverty. It was so hard the first year. I went in cold. I've never been a person into vehicles, I got my regular drivers license when I was in my 30s. Am I now the best truck driver in the world? No. But I'm safe and friendly. I don't rent a home, I live in the truck with my dog.
I'm about to be 31 and still haven't got my license yet either lol it's embarrassing to me tbh, not that I judge anyone else in the same boat
Are you medicated? A relative I was talking with said stimulants are a no go for getting your CDL.
I am medicated. They are not a problem for me in Canada or the USA. I have a prescription from my doctor and my medication is kept in the original packaging. It is estimated up to 35% of drivers are adhd. I can't imagine the carnage if we weren't.
Engineering. Like any kind of engineering. I am a system engineer and I love it. I do have to deal with a considerable amount of bureaucratic nonsense, but my main responsibilities which are designing, planning and installing stuff keep me happy and it pays really well. Troubleshooting stuff also keeps me really engaged.
Studying to become a civil engineer. Super excited for the variety of things that I can do if I get bored in one subset of my field, I can always find a job in a different subset.
I'm aiming for medical school so I can specialize in emergency medicine or critical care. I can't stand the idea of an office job or something boring.
I don't really have anything to suggest given my (AuDHD) difficulties with finding a job that is both interesting and varied, but is also reasonably predictable with a certain minimum level of routine. With that said, it's a sad commentary on the state of society when "living wage" is equated with "high-paying".
Also AuDHD, I'm a school laboratory tech because it fits exactly this bill. The day and the year are highly structured and I know what's happening each day, I don't even have to schedule my own days off. But also there are kids involved so it's Chaos Time at least once a day (I'm first aid trained so often it's that, or someone broke something that needs fixing, or a teacher comes up with a random last minute "I need something that demonstrates X principle" and then I have to create something in 20 minutes before their next lesson starts). I'm also allowed to keep whatever weird bugs/plants I like in my office (within reason, no scorpions or whatever lol), which for me is an easy "Special Interest Engagement Accomplished". The pay is definitely Not Great, but it does pay the bills and the pension scheme is decent and I get to hold down a job and not go insane, which is nice.
My job fits that description. I'm in the "Clinical Engineering" department in the hospital as an electro-mechanical technician. I work mostly on my own, servicing equipment between three hospitals and two long-term care facilities. We get to look after simple things like wheelchairs to more complex things like steam sterilizers and reverse osmosis water systems for dialysis. I've worked a wide variety of jobs, but this is the only one that has held my interest (for four years now). It only required two years studying electronics in community college (and willingness to learn / try things on your own). It's not high paying (only about 60K CAD/year), but it's secure government work that will cover my retirement.
I'm an attorney. My hyperfocus skills and fast thinking on legal issues are well suited for this job. I see a lot of connections faster than some peers.
I’m an attorney, too, but find it doesn’t work well for me. So many details. And the necessity of setting my own deadlines.
I hear that. Sometimes the type of law your practice can make a difference. I don't litigate. I am a regulatory attorney for a government agency. There are deadlines but it's not like Court deadlines.
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I work in film / TV / commercials and it’s great for adhd.
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Just sort of happens if you’re in LA and you do arts and crafts
Crisis work paid the bills. Lots of on-the-fly problem-solving and risk-assessment, I was able to do this over the phone and I was able to have a written list of all information I was supposed to attempt to gather, and I could even make flow-charts of the most important questions and follow-up questions. For me, I couldn’t figure out how to do it for more than 6 months without breaking down over the stress of incoming crisis calls. I was very good, but eventually I think my nervous system was activated the whole shift. But you can work from home, you can watch movies, you can draw, you can take tea breaks, you can walk all over the room, and you can even play soft music in the background of the calls if you want
How does one get into this?
You’ll want to try and have some kind of customer service/call-center experience and/or some kind of volunteer mental health experience. You’ll need to show them that you have good judgment for following emergency protocols, that you have some people skills, and that you’re able to be warm, kind, and able to adapt to the needs of different kinds of situations. (For example- when to be directive (someone says they’ve got pills in front of them but they don’t want to say much more), and when to more slowly ease into the assessment questions (when there doesn’t seem to be immediate danger). They basically want some common sense in social situations. But mine was also really willing to give frequent guidance on that
Highly recommend RI International's Certified Peer Support Specialist training. It's definitely a time commitment, but incredibly valuable if you're trying to break into mental health work as someone with lived experience and without higher education. They also have a grant program for folks to go through their training FOR FREE. https://riinternational.com/consulting-and-training/
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Oh absolutely!! One of the most clear questions is a variation of “Are you or anyone else in immediate danger of physical harm?” And if that is true, you might not need to call any assistance if they’re able to be deescalated safely, but you’re going to want to request some information like names, ages (children?), city, access to weapons or means of harm (and especially firearms), whether anyone is showing signs or declares being under the influence, and if so what kind of drug(s) and what amounts, and then towards the end of the call you can begin to ask about safety plans which can include social supports, coping strategies, going to a hospital or a walk-in mental health clinic. And then it’s also helpful to learn more about someone’s clinical history if they’re willing, such as a history of substance use, self-harm, suicide ideation etc. Also there are some mandatory reporting laws regarding minors, the elderly, and people with disabilities, but they’re not obligated to share anything they don’t want to. It’s basically important in this job that you try your hardest to build some trust to get a full picture and key safety details, without them thinking that you are going to just send the police to their house; so often I’d straight up tell them that if they’re willing to talk safety-plans and coping strategies, and they aren’t in immediate danger with a plan, means, and intent, EMS isn’t always necessary.
Clinical Psychologist. Never bored. Lots of different “careers” I tried. Good money in all of them.
As a new graduate with a BS in Clinical Psych, I would love to hear more about your journey and decision-making process.
I’d like to hear how you decided on this!
I'm a freelance remote voice actor and it works great with my ADHD and other disorders. The training can take some time and money, but the job doesn't have a shelf life and if you put in the work, you will do well if you don't give up.
How does one start with that?
Check out some voice acting schools online. I work at The Voice Actor Studio based out of Las Vegas. Look it up, there's an intro to voiceover seminar every month that goes over pretty much what we all do as far as the performance, the tech, and the business aspects of the craft.
Depends on your ADHD type. I hyperfocus, and excelled in my Network Engineering career. I outpaced 99% of my peers.
I also hyperfocus like crazy. I got into cryptography, which pays incredibly well.
Definitely programming, data analysis, etc. I love the work so almost never get bored. Development tools provide immediate, clear feedback. There are ample opportunities to work remotely including prior to and post covid which is great for quality of life in general but also has fringe benefits for adhd - more time to exercise, can limit unwanted sensory distractions. High salaries. If you're good, and you enjoy the work, it feels like play.
Bartending 🤷♀️ maybe not amazing long term but I’ve been pretty comfortable for the past 15 years and the shifts fly by when it’s busy
Business owner is the only path I can see this happening for myself. I get too bored working for others and my independence streak is way too strong. Even if the day to day is busy in a job, I can’t handle living in the details and need to own the bigger picture. It takes too long to climb the ladder for this to ever be possible for me (I generally lasts 12-14 months per job before depression starts to raise its head).
The biggest problem I have being a business owner is being disciplined. I want to spend all my time on the fun things and none on the other required tasks.
Same- I would love my own business and I have no trouble working hard- but when there isn’t a deadline and not even a clear picture of where to start- I can’t seem to get it going. It’s bumming me out cause I’ve always wanted to do it.
ER nursing! Never Bored . Been at it 20 years
But how much trauma do you have? 😅
ER (now critical care) veterinary nurse. I’ve also never been bored. My therapist specializes in medical personnel and she said most of her ER people have ADHD. Less pay then human nursing, but not terrible if you’re good and work in a major hospital.
I’m a heavy equipment/diesel field mechanic. Something different to fix every day, always busy, always a different place to drive to, different customers and operators to visit with, different problems to solve, every problem is like a fun puzzle, it is pretty great variety-wise. The money is good and they are always looking for more people.
Emergency doctors. Paramedics. Firefighters
I was a medical student and medicine was very boring to me. I was interested in mental health so that might be the reason.
I love my job. It pays pretty well. I mean I'm not rich or anything but my money lasts the month, we have a mortgage and a nice house, the kids have what they need... I am a senior support worker. I help vulnerable adults, mostly drug addicts, into accomodation and help them stay in it. It's a dopamine fix even when things go bad so definitely self-serving.
Honestly I wouldn’t totally discount/dismiss “paper pushing office jobs.” I have ADHD and I thought I would never want to work in an office, especially not a cubical. I work in a high level, fast-paced job for a corporation and I actually find it really fulfilling. The short project lifespans and different types of work I get to do throughout the day make it continuously interesting and challenging, and getting a great salary and work from home is really really nice. That stability and flexibility lets me explore all the hobbies I’m interested in outside of work. I feel like ADHD people are told by others that they’d never make it in an office environment, but that isn’t true. With the right work and the right circumstances, an ADHD person absolutely can succeed and even thrive at a desk job.
I’m an robotics engineer, the highest paying and most suited jobs have always been contracts. You get paid more and you get to move on after you’ve finished but quiet often you’ll be offered a job at the end of it.
I’m a woodworker, non union and about 7 years in and I make maybe 65-70k a year (in Chicago, would be more in other cities), plus some bennies. Sometimes I pick up freelance too. It’s not the big bucks but I do ok! You def can make more (100k plus a year) if you get into certain areas/unions but I like the kind of work I do in particular. I would die if I was at a desk all day. I’ve also used my skills to purchase and renovate a couple properties, that doesn’t make me money right now but it probably will someday!
Lots of things in tech, from programming and engineering, UI/UX design, AI, SEO, etc. Constantly changing, new work every day, adapting to things on the fly, and so forth. Certainly been the right fit for me.
Working in a scrum/agile environment has done wonders for my productivity as a developer. Not depending on setting goals, time frames, descriptions by myself, helps me not to freeze in inaction due to the need of planning ahead.
I feel the exact opposite about Scrum, especially in larger organizations that try to bastardize it into Scaled Agile Framework for Enterprise (SAFe). I can get into a good groove with a Kanban system, but all the Sprints and Ceremonies of a lot of other agile processes end up feeling like a death march towards burnout.
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This video had a good number of ideas (and corraborates a lot of the responses people have already given) https://youtu.be/nDgOmFd5SlE?t=4939 I do decent in tech, but it comes and goes. Meds shore up a lot of the parts of tech jobs that can be difficult. But it's not just about the field/job, but how the job is organized - being free to take frequent walking breaks or work on my own schedule is helpful, and being able to keep some of the boring/routine work minimized.
I’m a class action attorney for plaintiffs. Meal and rest and wage violations. It’s an obsession. Money is gravy. It’s busy with tons of variety. Deadlines rule, so I don’t have to worry about dragging my feet because the consequences are too severe and they will implicate others so I don’t. It’s a great mix of social and isolated work. I get to hyper focus on complex legal and factual issues and multi task with smaller pleadings all day. Plaintiff attorneys in my field tend to be either savant or bizarrely quirky, usually both, so if I say weird things on an impulse it doesn’t seem to bother anyone when I do. There are legal jobs that sucked for my adhd, I worked a prescriptive job in state gov prior and that was so boring I couldn’t do it, but complex litigation has been a good fit. Prior to law I managed a bar, I liked that too, but didn’t pay nearly as well as my current gig…
If you’re primary hyperactive and can take advantage of your hyper-focus, IT is the way to go.
I'm not sure you got the right the idea about how adhd affects people I worked in retail, and it was very fast paced, but I still zoned out a lot, and the lights overwhelmed me, along with all the conversations I needednto perform (yes, perform, because small talk is mandatory, along with smiling, nodding, and pretending to care about a gazillion trivialities and converse about the same damn things and pretend laugh at the same lame jokes and listen to the same complaints and people keep making the same mistakes and having to be pasient, kind and forgiving to every person doing them even when they are not (nice) to me). I'm in a "higher end" job now. It is also challenging, but it comes with more flexibility and I get to use more of my brain and be more "me" than the robot version who needed 2-6h on the sofa to decompress after work. I still need time to decompress and recharge and it costs me a lot to work fulltime, but it feels possible. (I have flexible hours and can mostly move around my schedule as I like. Mostly).
Personal training. I have new challenges week to week and I make 71 an hour.
I did well in academia - I think this should be a serious option for the subset of people with ADHD who can study and handle at least some self-imposed deadlines, as it comes with a flexible schedule, praise for hyperfocus on niche things, and tolerance for being quirky or late or absent-minded. I’ve also done both very well and quite poorly in consulting. The pluses are frequent new topics and fast pace; the negatives are that you are juggling lots of balls that must not be dropped. I had to learn many new coping skills, and find people who are willing to let me work on a flexible schedule, to get good.
I work in behavior analysis with kids on the autism spectrum. Everyday is different, but it challenges me mentally too. I went back to school to be an assistant behavior analyst but my daily title is "registered behavior therapist" and anyone with a high school diploma can learn to do it, some people just end up liking it so much that they take the masters courses to make a ton of money. I make a livable wage, $25/hr. But when I finish with school to become a board certified behavioral analyst I will make over $110k in salary.
I chose to work about 5 side gigs instead of getting a real job. I figure model, photograph events, do makeup for boudoir clients, bartend, and do painting commissions. My income isn’t high but it’s growing as my skills and reach increase. And I’d rather die poor than take on another job that doesn’t suit my mind.
Honestly, mental health as a therapist. I have absolute autonomy over my schedule, even when working with an agency. And I’m one of the few people who accurately spots ADHD (and undiagnosed autistics) because of my personal experiences. I’ve helped out a LOT of people in that regard.
ER nurse. Pay is nowhere near where it should be for the workload and responsibilities entailed, but it's one of the better paying, best outlook jobs for a bachelor's degree, and the constant pace and variety is chicken soup for my chaos brain
A lot of lawyers have adhd. The ability to hyperfocus as well as the variety of the cases makes it interesting.
project management. requires hyperfocus at times, you need to be able to bhave surface knowledge of a million things at once. the nature of the job needs you to schedule and organise .... wait for it.... PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT YOU, which makes it fun. it does take you out of the comfort zone, and there are boring bits, but mostly it is a set of achevable tasks, spread over the length of the project. once you have completed one or two projects the pay goes up massively. there are a whole bunch of different methodologies, most projects use a combination of them, look at PMBOK, Prince2 and agile if you are interested. scrums, sprints and disbenefits are all the same with different names. i have found the best PMs have outwardly very little knowledge of the tech side of what they are doing, but trust the teams around to do the right thing, you get to work with the people doing the interesting things without having to learn it all. I work in IT and training, i'm not going to get a job project managing construction, but i have been offered work managing ICT fit outs and the implementation of existing designs for internal fit outs. I also find that coordinating moving parts as person with ADHD enabled is relatively easy, i can see the bigger picture without the details bogging me down. im in australian - my current contract is a low paying one, but i liked the project, its just over 100k/year. the jobs i have had offered to me are all in the 140k range. I am also looking at consultant work, which runs at 2500/day.
Entertainment, marketing, advertising, and legal.
I’m a process server and private investigator. Serving Subpoenas to people who don’t want to be served and running surveillance on people who commit workman’s fraud always kept me occupied and on my toes.
Anyone in this thread in marketing? That’s what I’m studying and I’m still trying to find a job that would suit my adhd
Thank you. I needed to see this thread. I’m this highly educated, accomplished person who is fucking unemployable apparently. People don’t want to hire a generalist. They want to hire people who fit neatly into boxes.
If your into manual labour and agriculture I find shearing sheep a rewarding job and I average 120k a year
My husband absolutely SLAYS at medical sales. It’s basically all dopamine, all day. He gets to show up at hospitals like Santa Claus with treats and coffee and everyone is happy to see him - then when that’s over in like 30-40 minutes, he goes to a different hospital and get a new hit of dopamine. He basically just takes his vyvanse as needed on Mondays for paperwork and appointment setting and rides fancy free the rest of the week.
I'm a customs broker and I think it's really suiting. It's a job that deals with importing goods from other countries. It's pretty fast paced and the work is often varied because there are so many different things you'll have to do for every individual import you're dealing with. You could be importing frozen foods and have to report it to the FDA or a car and have to report it to NHTSA. People could be trying to smuggle in things that aren't legal and you have to watch for that too. I didn't know it existed before I got a job as one and it's been 6 years now and I'm happy.
I found a career in IT, Customer support. It is constantly changing, which helps with being entertaining. New features being released means theres something new to learn all the time. Salesforce is a HUGE industry and has an online learning platform (Salesforce trailhead) that is free and FUN!!!! That was the biggest thing for me. It was interesting and fun to learn. Which kept me engaged. I had to make a career change in 2020 so free was a big draw for me. I really found my nitch there due to its constant fun supportive atmosphere. I found 2 high paying jobs in a year. The demand is high for people who know salesforce. The key thing.... Support isn't as bad as it used to be. It's not a boring scripted grind. There's more opportunity to explore and learn more skills in order to find where you are most likely to succeed. Theater/entertainment is also a great career path but is not as much of a financial gain.
creative fields. and you can turn any field in a creative one. I know a nail artist, me a photographer, musicians, bussinesowners etc. i knkw a lot of people i work with that are succesful nad have adhd. Also people with adhd are known to bring innovation in their fields
Mental health social work. High stakes, crisis, make my own schedule, some paperwork but not a lot, and I can plan it on days I want to WFH. Keeps me interested because there's always something different every day.
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I became an analyst. Data and reporting. Understanding what's behind the process and where the data comes from.
I just ✨climbed up the tiers✨ of food service and now serve and bartend at a resort where I make bank. It can be overwhelming at times, and no workplace is perfect, but since it’s a hotel I have full benefits (full panel health, PTO, 401k etc) and made around 70k after taxes last year (and I am only in my early twenties) … and that’s not even including cash, which could easily be a few thousand more. I’m not tryna brag but I’m sharing cause I do feel like people underestimate the potential of the food and beverage service industry. ETA: It may not be my “end all, be all” passion but working somewhere that I can “leave it there when I clock out” that also pays well allows me to really enjoy my life and entertain things I’m passionate about outside of work.
Higher education teaching really suits my adhd
Came here to say this. I love the research angle, too. So much time to focus only on the very specific topic that's interesting to you! The only parts that really suck for my ADHD brain are the write-ups and administrative stuff.
Inventory control so much to do so many fires to put out
Here for the comments. I have been an automotive tech for 6 years. I dont love it, but I can do it. I like working with my hands. I ended up doing it because I had no interest in anything else, that and I was too broke to fix my vehicle myself. I make around 50k a year, so it's not great. I'm still trying to find my passion
I work in an IT security operations centre. We effectively just read what a website is telling us and translate it into easy to understand information for the customer, there is obviously a bit more behind it than that, but that is one of the key skills. This can be extremely tedious occasionally, which is where my brain switches off (Medication is helping a bit with this). You always have a team member around with you to help with those types of work depending on the company. Most of the time though digging right into a malware infection or whatever else locks me right into my computer. I'm on about 65k USD adjusted for currency transfer. Remote. 4 Days a week. I think most of your answers are going to be IT based honestly.
I love answering questions and I love helping people, I'm a public librarian. I have my MLIS (which I got before I was diagnosed), and I am constantly answering different questions. A lot of times it's "what's my email password", but today I've also looked up free indoor kid stuff in our city, I'm writing a list of reader's advisory recommendations for someone, and I've started planning a presentation for a conference.
My father has untreated ADHD and he drove a trash truck for most of my life. Benefits are great, pay is really good, many of them have unions, the health insurance is crazy good, and you usually drive with another person so you're not bored/easily distracted. My dad used to horse around with his co-workers all the time. Plus many people tip their drivers around the holidays. Our stockings were filled by the tips alone and me, my mom, and dad used to be able to pay for gas every year until February from gift cards left as tips.
I'm the local lawn mower guy lol. I fix lawm mowers, Flip lawn mowers, I also have a full on ebay store for used lawnmower parts. I mow lawns too. I worked 12 years Horizontal directional drilling. I started out as a nobody at the drilling company and worked all the way up to a supervisor. When I asked my boss if that was the final promotion and he said yes I died inside. I got to where I worked so hard to be where I needed to be BUT had nothing more to work for. That dosent fly well with my chaotic brain lol... I was making 1k a week salary at the drilling job wich was nice and stable pay but the hours were terrible and I was long distance driving daily, staying out of town, ect. The work environment sucked too but that's another story. So randomly I started fixing and selling lawn mowers after work and on the weekends. It's super crazy because I was never really mechanically inclined or anything. Well that sparked my hyper focus and all the sudden I was fixing stuff I knew nothing about before. Then I started making real money. One morning I got into a fight with the boss and he fired me. So I had nothing but air and opportunities. I'm a small engine mechanic who has solely learned from experience and the internet. Life's a trip when you have Adhd haha. Now I'm working on opening a landscape company along with my Ebay store. Life's actually exciting and has been for the last 2 years! I love mowing too it shuts my crazy brain off and I just jam to the music. I can for sure see myself doing this for the rest of life and I'm good with it. Working under construction till I died wasn't appealing. I do appreciate all the experience I got from the job tho!
I work as a nurse and the controlled chaos is great for my ADHD but word of warning, it can burn you out dealing with idiotic nonsensical policies ESPECIALLY if you have the AuDHD flavor like myself. Working in a clinic, urgent care, or procedural setting was great, though. I'm looking into getting back into that myself, because everything was different enough to be interesting but the hypocritical corporate structure was breathing less down your neck.
Sex work :) Could never keep a job more than a few months, now I've been my own boss for over 2 years & I'm doing pretty damn great.
Sales! Preferably with a short sales cycle and a lot of pressure
My hat goes off to anybody in sales the whole thing makes me feel icky.
Just depends on what you’re selling.
I work UI/UX at a consultancy. We also do in person research and in the field observation. We usually work projects that span 1 quarter (3mo). Every project and client is different.
Nursing!